What is 'reasonable time'?

HarryGray

Hi,

As discussed in an earlier post we are not happy with our housing situation. We were supposed to move into a flat on the 27th August, however due to a moth infestation, damp and a damaged sink we felt it was unhealthy to move.

We have requested that we move in on the 7th which should give them enough time to do the fixes. Bear in mind, we haven nowhere to stay at the moment as the property was not checked before we moved in.

They have said they cant confirm whether this will be done in time. What is a reasonable time in this case? Surely this is reasonable given our situation? What do you think our best couse of action is here?

Comms69

HarryGray wrote: »

Hi,

As discussed in an earlier post we are not happy with our housing situation. We were supposed to move into a flat on the 27th August, however due to a moth infestation, damp and a damaged sink we felt it was unhealthy to move.

We have requested that we move in on the 7th which should give them enough time to do the fixes. Bear in mind, we haven nowhere to stay at the moment as the property was not checked before we moved in.

They have said they cant confirm whether this will be done in time. What is a reasonable time in this case? Surely this is reasonable given our situation? What do you think our best couse of action is here?

Well pest control (I'm not sure how bad it mustve been, you say infested, but moths don't stay somewhere without a food source) - a week?


Sink - 1-2 weeks. Its hard to say what 'damaged' means. If it works, I wouldn't be replacing it.


Damp - well that's going to require serious work, how many rooms? How bad is it? or is it just a bit of mould?

HarryGray

Comms69 wrote: »

Well pest control (I'm not sure how bad it mustve been, you say infested, but moths don't stay somewhere without a food source) - a week?


Sink - 1-2 weeks. Its hard to say what 'damaged' means. If it works, I wouldn't be replacing it.


Damp - well that's going to require serious work, how many rooms? How bad is it? or is it just a bit of mould?

Hi,
Thanks for the response. Moths have been a problem for a while at the property it seems and have eaten a lot of the carpet in the bedroom. We were warned not to hang clothes in the room.

The damp has come from a leakage in the bathroom which has come through to the bedroom.

If these works are not done by the 7th - what is our best course of action?

Also, we didn't sign the inventory list because they had a lot of things on there such as tenants old personal belongings, which of course we don't want to be responsible for. Since, they have removed these belongings from the flat and are now saying we can't do another inventory report! Where does this leave us? We haven't signed a list?

Rosemary7391

Has your tenancy started? Have you moved in? I'm a bit confused as to your situation.



Might be best to ask for a return of any money paid and look elsewhere. Dunno if landlord would agree but might be worth asking.

Comms69

HarryGray wrote: »

Hi,
Thanks for the response. Moths have been a problem for a while at the property it seems and have eaten a lot of the carpet in the bedroom. We were warned not to hang clothes in the room.

The damp has come from a leakage in the bathroom which has come through to the bedroom.

If these works are not done by the 7th - what is our best course of action? -I don't know your full circumstances. Like where you are living now. But I see that you've already paid. There's pretty much no chance they'll bother repairing. You took possession and then complained. But it's too late. You are bound by the tenancy whether you live there or not.

Also, we didn't sign the inventory list because they had a lot of things on there such as tenants old personal belongings, which of course we don't want to be responsible for. Since, they have removed these belongings from the flat and are now saying we can't do another inventory report! Where does this leave us? We haven't signed a list?

You pick up a pen, cross out the things they took away, then sign it and give the agent a copy.

Comms69

Rosemary7391 wrote: »

Has your tenancy started? Have you moved in? I'm a bit confused as to your situation.



Might be best to ask for a return of any money paid and look elsewhere. Dunno if landlord would agree but might be worth asking.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5888156/new-flat-not-fit-for-purpose-what-to-do


Took possession, basically there's no chance of getting money back. It's legally owed.


The council advised that the damp and pest problem 'could' make it uninhabitable; but I suspect it'll be weeks or months before they bother to come check.

HarryGray

Comms69 wrote: »

You pick up a pen, cross out the things they took away, then sign it and give the agent a copy.

Hi, this would be easy if we actually had a copy of the inventory list. We were not allowed to make amendments during our commencement date.


We are living in an air bnb at the moment whilst the repairs are being done.

Comms69

HarryGray wrote: »

Hi, this would be easy if we actually had a copy of the inventory list. We were not allowed to make amendments during our commencement date. - So make your own list. Take photos.


We are living in an air bnb at the moment whilst the repairs are being done.

Are they actually being done? Have you gone and checked? I know it's only been 3 days, but have they actually agreed to any of this.

sal_III

I guess you will opening new threads for the same issue until you hear the answer you want to hear.

Your move in date is whenever you decide to move into the property. You are liable for the rent regardless of whether you chose to occupy it presently or not. Picking an arbitrary date/deadline changes nothing.

Also moths eat fabric from animal fibre like wool, your synthetic and cotton clothes are safe. I find it hard to believe that the carpet in a rented accommodation is made of wool, rather than synthetic, but I will take your word for it.

Leaky pipes and resulting damp happen all the time, definitely not a reason to condemn the property. Unless it's really bad, in which case it should have been visible during the viewing.

HarryGray

sal_III wrote: »

I guess you will opening new threads for the same issue until you hear the answer you want to hear.

Your move in date is whenever you decide to move into the property. You are liable for the rent regardless of whether you chose to occupy it presently or not. Picking an arbitrary date/deadline changes nothing.

Also moths eat fabric from animal fibre like wool, your synthetic and cotton clothes are safe. I find it hard to believe that the carpet in a rented accommodation is made of wool, rather than synthetic, but I will take your word for it.

Leaky pipes and resulting damp happen all the time, definitely not a reason to condemn the property. Unless it's really bad, in which case it should have been visible during the viewing.

Hi,

I am asking two different questions here. Firstly, what is 'reasonable' time for them to fix the property, and at what point do we need to take legal advice.

Secondly, the position of them not letting us sign the inventory list as we didn't agree with the original list. Obviously if the previous tenants personal belongings were on the original inventory list, we were not going to sign that. We asked the lady to remove, she wouldn't.

Dexter's have assured us these belongings have been removed, however refuse to let us see an updated inventory list, so we can't sign anything.

Thanks

Comms69

HarryGray wrote: »

Hi,

I am asking two different questions here. Firstly, what is 'reasonable' time for them to fix the property, and at what point do we need to take legal advice. - Legal advice about what? Im sorry it's not a nice property, but I keep coming back to the same point. You have a valid tenancy, you are liable for the rent as you took possession.

Secondly, the position of them not letting us sign the inventory list as we didn't agree with the original list. - Did she have a gun? You just take pictures. Obviously if the previous tenants personal belongings were on the original inventory list, we were not going to sign that. - I dont see why not, but regardless. We asked the lady to remove, she wouldn't.

Dexter's have assured us these belongings have been removed, however refuse to let us see an updated inventory list, so we can't sign anything. - Why haven't you checked?

Thanks

I don't know who 'Dexter's' are, but I suspect they're just one of ten's of thousands of letting agents who seem to share the one working brain cell.